


Under the Moon and Stars

by quartzguts



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 05:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19823284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartzguts/pseuds/quartzguts
Summary: Xemnas pops the question. Isa panics.





	Under the Moon and Stars

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this idea for a while and only now got around to writing it. it was pretty fun!

\---

The sun was setting outside, its dying light shining in faintly through the kitchen window. Isa finished washing the last dishes in the sink and handed them to Xemnas to dry.

It sort of bothered him that Xemnas insisted on helping him clean up after dinner. It felt right for Isa to clean the dishes since Xemnas cooked every night. He always said he didn't mind, since he worked from home and had plenty of time to make dinner and clean the house, while Isa had work _and_ college to keep him busy. Isa never liked feeling like he wasn't doing his share of the housework, though. He wasn't used to it.

During the old days of the Organization, he was always working. The others might've teased him for pretending to be busy when all he was doing was expediting, but in truth being second in command was exhausting. Xemnas left most of the details to him, so managing their missions and resources was more than a full time job. Maybe that was why Xemnas was so insistent on helping now - because of the guilt of overworking Saïx for years.

Isa glanced over at Xemnas, who was dutifully wiping down the plate in his hands. It had been years, and most of their wounds had healed over, but some of their little habits from those days remained. Like the way Isa always made sure to lock their bedroom door at night, and the way Xemnas got lost staring up at the moon and stars.

Isa was long over the desire to do anything Xemnas asked of him, though, and Xemnas was perfectly functional as a person of his own. When they’d come together again, on equal ground, it had been easy for them to fall back in love.

"Done," Xemnas said as he slid the last plate into the cabinet. Their dishwasher had broken a week ago, so it'd taken them a while to clean up. The sun was almost completely set, bleeding deep red over the horizon.

Isa sighed and leaned against Xemnas's shoulder. Xemnas took his hand gently. "Still tired from work today?" he asked.

Isa smiled a little at the question. He constantly marvelled at the emotions that now colored Xemnas’s voice. He nodded.

Xemnas took the towel off the counter and used it to dry Isa's hands, then brought one up to his mouth and kissed it. He slowly trailed a line of kisses up Isa's sleeve, ending with a soft kiss on his neck.

Isa's smile turned into a grin. To say Xemnas was in a romantic mood wouldn’t be accurate, because Xemnas was _always_ in a romantic mood. It was more likely his mood was on the sensual side.

Isa tugged at his arm until they were facing each other and leaned in for a kiss.

"Wait," Xemnas said. "There's something I need to ask you."

"Oh?" Despite the ominous wording, Isa wasn't particularly worried. He was used to Xemnas's poetic manner of speech. He tended to make everything sound unnecessarily dramatic.

"Shall we go to the living room?" Xemnas asked.

"Sure," Isa said. As they walked the short distance to the next room over, he started to get worried. In the span of a minute, Xemnas put his hands in his pockets, then pulled them out, and then reached for Isa's hand, intertwining their fingers. His palm was sweaty. He was _nervous_.

Isa had heard from Xion, who visited Xemnas somewhat regularly n the first few months after he was recompleted, that he would often get inexplicably nervous. Guilt and remorse were new sensations to him; they easily overwhelmed him.

Though all of their former members had decided to take a _forgive and forget_ policy regarding what they’d collectively done to each other, there was still a fair amount of suspicion directed at Xemnas. The first time they'd all seen each other after everything was over, it was actually the near panic Xemnas was in over accidentally hurting them again that had convinced everyone he was serious about being sorry.

Even now, it wasn’t unusual for Xemnas to get jumpy when he talked to Isa about the old days.

Except he was also honest to a fault. So the fact that he hadn’t said anything about it yet was making Isa nervous, too.

They sat on the couch. It was against the back wall of the room, facing a large window that provided an excellent view of the street. They’d designed the room together when they’d bought the place with the intent of people watching.

The curtains were drawn now, so there was no diffusing the tension by pointing out interesting passersby. Xemnas put his hand in his pocket again, pointedly looking at the ground and not Isa.

“Is something wrong?” Isa asked.

“What?” Xemnas looked confused, then sheepish when he realized how his behavior must’ve looked. “No, it’s nothing like that, I assure you.”

“Ah. What, then?”

Xemnas bit his lip and kept staring intently at the ground, before he abruptly stood and pulled Isa up with him. Isa was about to ask why they’d bothered sitting down in the first place when Xemnas took a little black box out of his pocket and dropped to his knee.

Oh. Oh _no_.

Isa knew exactly what was coming. He had to stop it now.

Thinking quickly, he got down on his knees, threw his arms around Xemnas’s neck, and kissed him fiercely. Xemnas laughed into his lips, drawing him in for a deeper kiss. When he tried to pull away, Isa put a hand on the back of his head and forced him to stay put.

Eventually Xemnas’s superior strength won out and he broke their kiss. “Alright, I assume that’s a yes, then?”

“Yes,” Isa said, panting. “Yes, of course, yes.” He leaned in for another kiss.

“Will you at least look at the ring, love?” Xemnas asked, bringing the box up between them so Isa’s lips smushed against it.

Pink colored his face as Xemnas laughed at the little display. “Uh - yeah, naturally,” Isa said. This was bad. If he took too long looking at the ring it would start. “Open it up.”

Xemnas took his sweet time popping open the velvet box. Inside was a simple but elegant engagement ring, silver with a pale blue gemstone embedded in the center. It was absolutely gorgeous and, knowing Xemnas, far more expensive than was necessary.

“It’s a blue topaz,” Xemnas said, sounding proud of himself. “The gemstone of your birth month, December.”

What a stupid detail to focus on. It was just the sort of thing that made Isa fall in love with him even more.

Xemnas took the ring out of the box and held it up between them. It took a moment of him looking expectantly at Isa before he snapped out of his love-induced daze and raised his hand.

Xemnas slid the ring onto his finger. It fit him perfectly. He’d probably taken one of the few rings Isa owned to a jewlers and had them size it accordingly. The thought of Xemnas picking out the ring in a store, obsessing over the size and cut of the gem and probably driving the employee helping him out of their mind - well, it was absolutely adorable. Isa couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

Xemnas cleared his throat. “Now, I have a few things to say -”

_Shit_. Isa leapt forward and smooshed their lips together again.

He could feel Xemnas smiling, which was good. Isa knew he could get upset when one of his monologues was interrupted, and no doubt he’d been preparing this one for weeks. Who knows how long it’d be. Isa knew he was going to have to listen to it at some point, and it would probably be very flattering and lovely, but it was already 9pm. If they started now they might not get to sleep until the early hours of the morning. Isa was used to staying up late, but not to listen to his boyfriend wax poetry without pause for hours.

Xemnas turned his head away to free his mouth. “Isa -”

“Come on, let’s just sit here for a little bit.”

Xemnas rubbed his thumb against the small of Isa’s back. “That sounds nice, but can we move onto the couch?”

Oh. Isa found himself blushing deeper from embarrassment as he and Xemnas stood up and fell back down onto the couch. Isa shifted around so he was snuggled up against Xemnas, facing him so he could cut him off again in case of an emergency.

"Isa," Xemnas said. Isa moved in to kiss him again when Xemnas planted a hand firmly over his mouth. "I understand that my… _excessive_ _wordiness_ often annoys you, but could I please at least say a few things?"

"That's not -" Isa starts to say, but it was actually a pretty accurate description of what he was trying to do. "I'm sorry. It's just late. I don't mind listening, but… can we please do this in the morning?"

Xemnas scratched at his cheek. "I would normally be fine with that, but I wished to say these things to you under the light of the moon. You know."

Isa groaned. How… stupidly romantic and sweet. And unnecessary. And perfect.

"Okay. Let's go out onto the porch, then."

Xemnas jumped up excitedly - although _jump_ wasn't really the right word. He always moved gracefully, purposefully, which had been pompous and annoying at first but quickly grew endearing the longer they’d lived together. Isa, meanwhile, constantly ran into furniture and tripped over air. When he thought about it, they complemented each other pretty well.

Xemnas was romantic and sentimental. Isa was blunt and forward looking. The time they spent apart had let them grow into two perfectly complementary people.

Isa could never have imagined this while they were in the Organization. He wondered if it was fate.

It was a full moon, of course. Xemnas's planning was never anything short of perfect. Isa duly noted that he didn't have any classes the next day, _and_ it was one of his days off from work.

"Hey," he said, looking up at the wide expanse of stars visible due to the minimal light pollution of the city, "how long did it take you to plan this? Find the perfect day and all that."

"A few months," Xemnas admitted. "Although I've been thinking about it for longer."

Truth be told, Isa had been thinking about it, too. The only reason he hadn't went out and bought a ring himself was because he'd known Xemnas would want to be the one to propose.

The light from the moon, swiftly rising higher in the sky, was enough to illuminate their backyard. It was fairly small, but picturesque, with a tree growing in the corner and rows of hedges lining the fences for added privacy.

"We might want to consider moving to a larger property for the kids," Xemnas said idly.

Isa choked on his own spit and looked at Xemnas with wide eyes. " _What_."

Xemnas grinned at him, teasing. "I fully intend on adopting a pair of dogs with you, Isa."

The words took a few moments to register in Isa's short circuiting brain. When they finally sunk in, he laughed and shoved Xemnas. "Don't scare me like that!"

Xemnas chuckled. "I suppose we must have this conversation at some point. Are we in agreeance that we don't want children?"

"Yes," Isa said. “No kids. _God_ no."

"That is indeed a relief." Xemnas took Isa's hand and led him to the chairs and picnic table on the porch. Their grill sat only a few feet away, having been used the previous weekend for the twice-a-year Organization Reunion Cookout. "Although personally, I am hoping at least one of our friends has children. I believe I'd enjoy being an uncle."

"So you wanna spoil the kid rotten but not be responsible for the difficult stuff?" Isa asked. "Sounds good to me."

Xemnas hummed. "A cat might be nice as well. Although it would have to get along with the dogs."

"I've never been a fan of cats," Isa said, "but I think one would suit you well."

Xemnas kept looking up at the sky. Then he turned to Isa and took one of his hands, bringing it up for another kiss. "I'll try to keep this brief."

Isa found himself smiling. A cool breeze blew over the patio, ruffling Xemnas's hair in a remarkably cute way. "Don't. I want to hear all of it."

Xemnas looked up, surprised. "Really."

"Yes. Lay it on me."

"Isa," Xemnas murmured. The way he said his name made Isa shiver. "How do I explain with words the depth of my feelings for you."

He managed it. In great detail. Isa sat still, completely enraptured by Xemnas's speech as the moon rose higher and higher above them. It was just about to begin its descent into the western sky when Xemnas trailed off.

"Yes?" Isa said, leaning forward.

Xemnas smiled. "I am embarrassed to admit that I was so distracted by your beauty, I forgot what I was going to say next."

Isa took the opportunity to draw Xemnas into a hug. "Come on. What am I going to do with you?"

"Marry me?"

Isa huffed. "I've already said yes."

"I know, but I'd like to hear you say it again."

Isa shifted and pressed his lips against Xemnas's jaw, just beneath his ear. "I want to marry you, Xemnas."

Xemnas made a little noise that sounded like a sob. Isa pulled away quickly see him rubbing at the tears gathered at the edges of his eyes.

"Forgive me," he murmured. "You make me so happy, I - I never thought…."

"Yeah?" Isa prompted.

"Years ago. When we met. All those nights we spent discussing what things would be like when we had our hearts." Xemnas looked away, as if he was admitting something shameful. "I was just humoring you, then. I was not sincere. But when you talked about what _we_ could be like, together, I had hoped."

Isa cupped Xemnas's cheek. "Me, too."

"I have never been more grateful to Sora and his friends," Xemnas continued, "and to _you_ , for helping Xion and Roxas. To all of you for putting an end to my plans."

"Xehanort's plans," Isa said gently. "No one blames you."

"I know, although I am at a loss to understand it," Xemnas said.

"That's alright," Isa said. "We're not quite there yet, but that's okay. We have the rest of our lives to figure it out."

"Yes," Xemnas said. "I suppose we do."

Before they went to bed, Isa slipped the matching ring - a silver band with no embellishments - on Xemnas's finger. They took a picture, which Xemnas fussed over for at least half an hour, and posted it online. They then promptly turned off both of their gummiphones. They'd deal with the flood of congratulations from their friends in the morning.

The night belonged to them.

\---


End file.
